SMITH COUNTY, Texas — Voter turnout in Smith County tends to be low for early voting and so far, this early voting session is shaping out to be the same. About 1,000 people have voted early this term so far out of 82,400 registered voters. This is about 1.1%.
"Which is very low," said Denise Hernandez, Elections Administrator for Smith County, "A lot of people they just really don't turn out like you want them to."
She said that in the past, voter turnout has fluctuated depending on the election. Elections that affect taxes get much more traction at the polls than elections like this one dealing with cities and schools. She also said there are a few reasons for this.
"Sometimes they forget about us. And really, to be honest, there's not a lot a whole lot of advertisement besides political science, right? Yes, they're required to post in the newspaper of general circulation. But people don't really read the newspaper anymore," she said.
Cliff Albright with Black Voters Matter has a mission to bring attention to these election cycles.
He said, "If you get people talking about it, and talking about the issues that they care about, then guess what? People will come out more. We've had that experience in every state that we've gone to. It takes time to go up from 2% turnout in a city election up to 10%, and 20%, and 30%."
This method worked on early voters Willie Jean Mims and Dave Hanson.
Mims said, "This year was very, very important that I voted early. Due to the political climate in this country today, voting early is the only way that you can assure that you're gonna vote."
Hanson added, "I usually vote on election day. But this time around, I decided to try it early, just out of convenience."
Voting early gives many voters the peace of mind that it's taken care of. Not to mention, these two said they were in and out of their polling locations within mere minutes.